What’s not news: Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez, as expected, officially tendered his certificate of candidacy to run for the province’s 2nd district in the 2025 midterm elections.
He will attempt to succeed his wife, incumbent Representative Ruth Mariano-Hernandez, who will in turn attempt to succeed him as governor.
What’s news: Ramil Hernandez will face two other candidates with almost exactly the same name as him.
That – and other idiosyncrasies that marked the crazy, crazy world of Philippine politics – marked the eight-day period of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the 2025 elections, from October 1 to 8.
Copycat names
It was a Facebook page called “Gawa, Hindi Paninira” that first called out the anomaly in its post last October 9.
The page posted a screenshot from the Commission on Election’s (Comelec) official list of candidates for Laguna’s 2nd District representative, where, aside from Hernandez and Cabuyao City Councilor Dondon Hain, were recorded the names “Ram Hernandez” and “Romeo Hernandez.”
Not only do the names bore such a resemblance to the incumbent governor’s name, they were so far from the real names given by these candidates in their COCs.
Critics point out that it may be another attempt to play that old trick of having candidates with similar-sounding names to a candidate perceived to be “leading,” in order to confuse voters who can’t tell who is who.
That dirty tactic had actually worked in a barangay in San Pedro City, Laguna during the 2023 barangay elections, when a candidate for barangay captain lost by a hairline to the incumbent all due to an alleged “nuisance candidate” with a very similar-sounding name.
‘Lipat-bahay’
That’s not the only anomaly prospective voters and netizens observed during the eight-day filing of COCs in Laguna province.
There were also numerous cases of “lipat-bahay,” or candidates who ran in one area during the 2022 elections suddenly switching their place of residence for the 2025 elections.
The most notable instance is that of former Laguna Governor ER Ejercito, who filed his COC for mayor of Pagsanjan last October 7.
Sure, Ejercito had served as mayor of Pagsanjan from 2001 to 2010, but what made his decision surprising is that he also ran for mayor of Calamba City in the 2022 elections. (He was badly defeated by incumbent Mayor Roseller “Ross” Rizal.)
Speaking of Calamba City, more eyebrows were raised when actor Anjo Yllana suddenly stepped in as the running mate of former Mayor Justin Marc “Timmy” Chipeco, whose family was staging a political comeback after they were virtually wiped out by Mayor Rizal’s team in 2022.
Given that Yllana once served as councilor of Parañaque City (wait, is this a reverse case of the Olivarez family who transferred their political arena from Laguna to Parañaque?), netizens couldn’t even fathom why he decided to try his luck in Calamba City in the first place.
Could it be that the Chipecos were banking on Yllana’s “star power” to help them regain the political power they lost in 2022?
Just asking!
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This photo shared by the Facebook group "Gawa, Hindi Paninira" last October 9 showed what appears to be the revival of a dirty tactic of having candidates with similar sounding names as that of a contender - this time, the target was Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez, who is running for representative of the province's 2nd district in the upcoming May 2025 midterm elections. (Photo courtesy of Gawa, Hindi Paninira/Facebook.com)
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